Wested swatch comparisons

[schwammy]

Many here are already wearing their new 'authentic leather' Westeds. Not being one to rush into things (as Bogart would say, "I haven't the money"), I sent off for a couple samples -- the new 'authentic' lamb and the older lamb. I received both today and thought I'd share my thoughts, which I hope will be helpfully objective, since I'm one of the few here who has yet to purchase a Wested.

Apparently Wested calls the older stuff 'brown nappa' and the new stuff 'seal brown nappa,' and the first thing you notice is the difference in color. I believe I'm correct when I say that all brown dye is a mixture of red, blue, yellow, and black, and the brown nappa (the old lamb) is almost exactly the same color as my goatskin Flight Suits jacket (purchased before they came out with the new lighter-weight goat) -- a dark brown leaning slightly toward purple. There's definitely more red and blue (and possibly black) in the old dye than there is in the new seal brown, which is a medium brown with more of a yellowish hue to it; almost an olive cast. (That is, when compared to the other swatch. Alone you'd just say it was brown.)

The thought that came to my mind was that the new 'authentic' seal brown looks more like you'd expect a leather jacket from the 1930s to look. That's a hard thing to quantify, but it seems to me that there is a big difference between leather from before, say, 1960, and leather today. Maybe it's the grain. The old brown seems to have two different grains going on. There's the actual pebble grain, like little skin cells, and then it's criss-crossed with creases making up a second grain. With the seal brown, there's just the pebble grain and no creases.

Initially I thought I liked the older, darker brown better, not only because it looked more screen accurate to me, but also because I want a jacket that looks almost black. But after playing with these samples awhile, I find there's more to it than color. There's much less shine on the newer 'authentic' lamb, so right away it looks slightly dusty. A good Indy-esque attribute, I think. The seal brown looks like it's already been gone over with alcohol to get rid of the shine. Better, actually. It's a duller finish than my FS jacket even after its repeated alcohol treatments.

The new seal brown lamb also seems slightly thinner than the old lamb to me. I realize that contradicts what others have said, but it seems to be so in the samples I received. Actually they're probably the same thickness, but the seal brown is definitely more lightweight and more 'stretchy' than the old lamb. What do I mean by 'stretchy?' Well, you can stretch both samples, but the new seal brown stretches further. It also snaps right back, like rubber. The older brown nappa, when stretched, sort of stays that way awhile, kind of like stretching a garbage bag a little bit. (A bin bag, for our UK friends). Not a very good way to describe it, but I hope you get the idea.

This may be good news for those who fear tearing -- if the leather has a little more give to it, it may be more forgiving when it gets snagged or caught on something. Obviously without a full jacket it's difficult to judge the drape of the leathers, but I do get a sense that the newer lamb would move and conform to the body more easily than the older lamb. I wonder, though, if it's so lightweight and stretchy that if you put something heavy into a pocket, it might possibly stretch the jacket out of shape? I'm getting out of my depth here, though, so I'll just conclude by saying I like 'em both, but I'm leaning toward the new seal brown because I think it'll drape better and the less shiny surface makes it seem less dressy.

[Fedora]

I agree. The new color is identical to my A-2 that is aged goatskin. It has a nostagic look to it. Also, this new lambskin looks thicker than the old, but it isn't. It just has a puffy look to the leather, like it was soaked in something that swelled it up. I know this sounds weird, but that was my first impression. Also, like you said, this lambskin isn't as shiny as the old. Interesting leather in my opinion, and makes a great jacket. Fedora

[Rundquist]

Something that slipped in under the radar is the fact that Wested's old dark brown lamb got thicker recently. I saw Indean's a month or two ago and it was significantly thicker than the one I got two years ago. This kind of stuff happens all the time. There is a bit or risk involved when you order a jacket because you really never can be sure what you're going to get. The new goatskin that US Wings is making their jackets out of now is apparently great. I wasn't too impressed with the one I got 2 & 1/2 years ago which falls in line with what some of the reviewers of the new goatskin were saying. My seal brown goatskin FS is not made from what they're making their jackets out of now. Mine was made out of a "transition" skin. Peter's new lamb is very close to the same color as the FS seal brown goatskin. The FS goat has slightly more red in it. Where was I? Oh yeah. Buy what you like. Cheers

[schwammy]

Well, I watched Raiders for awhile last night with an eye on the jacket and leather samples in hand, and I'm now convinced that the seal brown nappa is THE leather. I really picked up on the brown color this time, so I retract my earlier statement that the darker brown looks more screen accurate. The Raiders leather has a dusty, armor-like quality that's especially evident in the Raven scenes where it's zipped up, and Peter's right - the seal brown is it.

I also noticed that when Indy takes his jacket off the hanger and tosses it into the suitcase, that seems to be a cotton lining.